flights of fantasy..
one of the cheekiest dialouges from a 2010 movie was from the movie UDAAN "main beta hoon,koi________ nahin"..
After much thought,I filled in the blank as 'koi naajayaz aulaad nahin'...I was at the Pune edition of THE LANDMARK QUIZ-2011..
Much to my amusement and anguish alike,the answer turned out to be 'fixed deposit'.
Cheeky it was,but the movie was much more than what this scene depicts of it..A superb storyline coupled with some brilliant performances made it one of the finest movies of the year.
These are things u'd get to know only after having watched the movie...However,I had been waiting eagerly for UDAAN to release ever since I first read of it in the papers(an unspoken rule about TV viewing in hostel=only sports..hence,not on tv)...
The primary reason,of course,was that the movie was almost entirely shot in my home city...the UN GLOBAL COMPACT CITY/THE STEEL CITY/CITY OF THE TATAS-TATANAGAR/JAMSHEDPUR...
(the author attributes his habit of dropping clues to the latent quizzing genes present in him which at times manifest in an active form as a quizzer and at times as a Quizmaster)..
the thrill of seeing my hometown on screen was something huge and I ended up dragging almost all my friends
along,and as time would tell,something for which I was thanked later...
The second reason,which came as a surprise(and a pleasant one at that)had my alma mater,AFMC,in the thick of things....
My cousin,my senior at college,called me to his room one day and asked me "Satyanshu Sir yaad hain??",the excitement in his voice palapable..
Puzzled,I replied in the negative...
Refusing to let my cold reply dampen his enthusiasm,he continued "arrey!!Satyanshu da!!..RAMKRISHNA MISSION VIDYAPEETH mein mere senior they..AFMC passout,P-2 batch"...
And thereby I fathomed why I didn't know him...He had passed MBBS the year I had joined...
Having explained that bit to him,I asked him what was so special about him...
And as it turned out,the reason was indeed special..
SATYANSHU SINGH was his name..ever since his initial days in AFMC,he had a flair for writing and a 'never seen before love for films'..that was how his friends,batchmates,seniors,juniors described him...I never saw him but heard from people that he had paid out(for those of us unwilling to join the services,paying out is an option at Rs 15 lakhs)..and had decided to give film-making a try...
Some thought it was absurd,some thought it was foolhardy,I thought it was courageous..simply because,I couldn't imagine myself doing the same at the end of MBBS...
I mean,you need to have a fair bit of courage to step into the big,bad world of Bollywood when u've got no filmy connections whatsoever,more so when you are stepping into the wilderness from a field with an assured future(for beginners,the Armed Forces pays its doctors quite well)...
Sir followed his heart,believed his instincts and took the plunge..
But what's his relevance here??...u might ask..
okkay,if you've watched UDAAN you'd certainly have loved those poems that Rohan,the protaganist recites in the film....
It was Satyanshu sir who wrote those poems...and from what I'm told,he wrote them during his days in college...
For more of his writings,some honest film reviews and some lovely cinematic write-ups you can visit his blog at www.cinemaisforever.blogspot.com
The purpose of mentioning his story??
It's worth a mention simply bcoz the story's one of courage...
of courage that remained unperturbed even in the face of criticism,
of courage that inspires,
of courage that leads by example..
P.s.-my favourite scene from the movie is a 14 second wordless sequence with the protagonist's step-brother trying to keep pace with him on his way to school coz he's afraid of walking alone....so much conveyed without a word!!.....just one among many soul-stirring sequences throughout the movie....
If you still haven't watched it,go watch it today.....now
hmmmm "udaan"...u had told m abt d P2 factor earlier...i knew it wud b cumin smdy..(obvious reason d muvie's location).....i do remembr d quiz qstn on d poster.....luv it dude...keep scribblin dis vacation...:)
ReplyDeletethanks shakti....the scrribler in me is awake :)
ReplyDelete"bol de...bol de...sochta hai kya............."
ReplyDeleteNice change from your claim of not biting.........
Your Sir was courageous... Have Seen parts of that film.Planning to see your quiz event (CNBC) next week.So the film in the next offday(We get one day off in a week)
Have also seen your Devananad like style in black & white.Give it a try.. who knows........
Enjoy your vacation........
do watch the movie anamika ...you'll love it :)
ReplyDeletecan't say the same for my quiz show although :P
luking 4wrd to enjoying my vacation :)